My Hero
by Alice-n-Edna
Summary: Link came back to the forest to visit an old friend, but Saria knows he won't stay for long. Can she tell him what she wants to tell him? Or will it be too late? Twoshot, Link/Saria!
1. Chapter 1

My Hero

(This is a just a little Link/Saria fic, nothing special. It _was_ intended to be a full story, but I got lazy. XD)

Once upon a time, in a time of great chaos, the birth of a hero was said to have taken place. He was spoken of frequently, but never in good respect. The people claimed that he was no hero. That he wasn't going to save them.

Every person in Hyrule believed that. All except one. The girl with no divine leadership over anyone, or any specific power at all; Just a forest inhabitant with nothing more than a legend to live on.

That girl was named Saria.

She knew that the legend of the evil Gerudo theif, Ganondorf, was true, even when nobody else did. The only thing _they_ knew was that something was happening-and that something wasn't good.

Saria knew more about it than that. As much as she wanted to deny that she played such a big role in Ganondorf's release, she was partly responsible for unleashing him into the world. It wasn't her decision, but her power grew weak.

She was a sage, and when a sage's power failed, the magic on whatever they were holding wears out, allowing the object to become vulnerable, or-as in Ganon's case-escape.

That's exactly what happened, and because of that incident, the world was on the brink of destruction.

The most unfortunate thing, is that she could do nothing to help it.

However, once certain events unfolded over the years, it became clear to her that the new hero truly _was _that boy she'd looked after. The one that was her best friend; The one that left the forest when he was but ten years old.

Link.

Saria's heart clenched just thinking about how upset she was when he'd left Kokiri Forest seven years ago. She knew there was something about him that differed from the other Kokiri, but she had no clue it had come this far.

He was...a _hero_. There was no better word for him. Some called him a savior, and she, herself, liked to think of him as a deity, of sorts, but in blunt reality, he was what everybody who was anybody would call a hero.

The word felt foreign escaping from between her lips, no mater how many times she repeated it to herself.

_Hero_.

It was intense, the way it sounded coming from her-especially referring to a child she'd known for so long a time.

Trying to shake all the thoughts of Link out of her head proved to be impossible, so she settled for keeping her dreams of him alive. If anything, she fueled them with her intense passion of seeing him succeed.

And maybe that wasn't all. Maybe-possibly-she _liked_ him. You know, a _little _bit...

Upon hearing rustling in the brush beside her, she snapped out of her daze. "Wh-who's there?" she asked timidly.

There was a pause before a man's voice replied, "Link."

Her heart skipped a beat. "L-Link?" she spluttered, shooting to a standing position and watching excitedly as he revealed himself to her.

As soon as she caught sight of him, her eyes widened. "You...? You're all grown up," she remarked in a whisper.

"Yeah," Link replied simply, staring off into space for a moment before returning his gaze back to Saria.

A sudden smile rose on his lips, and Saria couldn't help but smile back.

Both of them stood like that for some time, taking in each other's presence as if they'd never see each other again...which was more than likely true.

He'd definitely grown; He was at least twice her height now. His blond hair had gotten a little longer as well, and he still wore his green tunic, which fit him perfectly now, considering it was much too big for him as a child.

Saria blinked once when she realized she'd been staring at his chest almost the entire time. The outline of his toned abs were visible through the tunic's top. "Uh, you've been training pretty hard?" she asked quickly, averting her eyes to the bench she'd previously been sitting on.

Link chuckled. "Not exactly 'training', per se, but more of fending off Hyrule's many monster infestations."

"Oh," Saria replied, slowly raising her eyes back up to his face again.

"It's been rough, but I'm getting better. I've finally got a little muscle." Link laughed at his comment. "I used to be so thin and lanky. Thank the goddesses for that little transformation."

Saria giggled, then asked, "Think you're strong enough to lift me?" Link scoffed and smirked playfully.

"Don't insult me," he said, his smirk turning into a grin as he knelt down to the ground and allowed the girl to wrap her arms around his neck. While he slowly came to a stand, he held Saria by the backs of her thighs and hoisted her up.

In one swift motion, Saria wrapped her legs around Link's middle, tightening her grip around his neck but being careful not to choke him. "Hold on," came the signature warning. Link began to walk his way from Saria's house to the Lost Woods, glancing over his shoulder every once in a while to make sure his friend was OK.

During the trip through the woods, Saria nuzzled her face into Link's hair and awaited their arrival to their secret grove patiently.

Finally they came upon the spot, and Link looked over his shoulder one more time to signal she could let go. Instead of meeting the girl's bright blue eyes as usual, he was greeted by the sounds of her soft breathing instead.

She was asleep.

The man smiled softly as he sat on the tree stump they used to share when they (or more accurately, Link) were little. His hands closed around her's, and suddenly her eyes flew open. "Oh? We're here?" Saria asked, looking around her.

"Yep, we're here," Link replied, letting go of her hands so she could remove them herself.

As slowly as she could without being suspicious, she took her hands away from him, and eventually her legs, too.

With that, Link sprawled himself out on the ground, stretching his arms and folding them behind his head. "Ahhh...," he sighed in relief, blinking a few times to get himself used to the bright light that shone nowhere but in this particular part of the woods.

Saria got comfortable on the tree stump, and the two of them commenced talking about each other's lives.

By the time they'd run out of things to say, it had just hit nightfall, and the sun was sinking below the horizon, setting the sky ablaze with brilliant fiery tones. The sounds of birds twittering quickly gave way to the croaking sounds of frogs, marking the transition between day and night.

_This is it, _Saria thought somberly, staring at Link while he was watching the sun set from where he sat, cross-legged in the grass. _After today, I'll probably never see him again._

As the final thought struck her, her eyes clouded with tears, which she hurriedly blinked away.

Saria started to say something, but kept quiet. Still silent, she inched herself off the stump and took a deep breath to rid herself of nervous jitters. Without giving it another thought, she walked over to Link and sat beside him, laying her head on his shoulder.

Slightly surprised by the sudden pressure, Link's eyes darted to his left, where his best friend sat.

On the outside, the girl was calm, but on the inside, she was anxiously awaiting Link's next move. Was he going to try and push her off? Or was he going to just ignore her and let her stay?

Because of her anticipation for his movement, she wasn't the least bit startled when he _did _shift, however she _was_ certainly surprised when he wrapped his arm around her waist and rested his chin on her head. "I'm going to miss you, Saria," he said softly, brushing her hair out of her face with his spare hand.

"You, too," the girl said back, her voice barely audible. "Just like I missed you when you left the first time."

Link cringed at Saria's words. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I never wanted to leave. I really didn't think that I'd end up being..."

"A hero," Saria finished for him.

"A hero," Link repeated, nodding his head. "No one _else_ believed it, much less me."

"I believed it," Saria said quickly, turning her head to gaze into Link's eyes. "I always had, and I always will. You're the hero, Link. The hero of Hyrule."

"Hero of Hyrule?" Link asked her, smiling slightly; Saria nodded.

A nervous feeling began to take hold of her again, but she ignored it as she said, "You're not just Hyrule's hero. You're _my _hero."

Link was silent, so Saria started to speak again, trying to ease the tension, but before she could manage any words, she felt the heat of his mouth on hers.

A tingling sensation spread across her body, from her head to her toes, that made her shiver with pleasure.

This wasn't what she had been expecting, but it was more than she had hoped for.

When the tingling died down and she was finally able to fight back, Link pulled away with a grim expression on his face. "Saria," he started.

"Link..."

"I have to go, I'm sorry."

Saria's heart sunk. "B-but...," she tried to protest, already knowing it was no use.

Gently using a finger to tilt her chin up, the man looked in her eyes and touched his lips to hers again, and he pulled away much too quickly for her liking.

Her eyes filled with tears as he removed his arm from around her waist and stood up, readying himself to leave. "I don't want you to go," Saria whispered suddenly, hoping it would cause him to stay at least a little longer. "I really don't."

Link looked back at her with sad eyes, which was when she realized he was crying, too. "I don't want to go, either."

"Then will you stay?"

"If I did, Hyrule would be destroyed by Ganondorf. I'm sorry, Saria."

Saria was very still, staring down at the grass in silence. Finally she managed to utter, "But I love you."

Link made a startled grunt, then the corners of his mouth rose up into a smile. "I love you, too, but since my real identity is as a Hylian...I can't be with you."

"Because of your age?" Saria asked, standing up and walking to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face into his stomach.

"I suppose you could say that," Link replied, still smiling, but more sympathetically now.

"You know I'm much older than I look, right?"

"How could I not? But the problem is, I'm exactly as old as I look."

The two locked gazes one last time before Saria let go of him, and he turned to leave. Right before he left the forest, the girl shouted after him, "Don't forget me!"

To which Link replied, "I never could. You virtually raised me. You helped me, and you _saved _me from the others. You're like my hero."

"Your hero?" Saria squeaked, her eyes welling up with tears yet again.

"More like a deity, of sorts," Link finished with a smile.

They stood in silence for a mere few seconds, then Link left, taking half of Saria's heart with him.

(A/N: Once again, this was going to be a full story, but I made it a two-shot. Yes, after a couple reviews agreeing I needed a happier ending [well it WAS supposed to be ANGST], I'm doing a second chapter. It'll be shorter than this one, but it'll end...happier. XD Until then...enjoy this, I guess.)


	2. Chapter 2

Her best friend and only love was gone. Just like that.

Saria's chest ached from the pain of her broken heart, and her thoughts of Link only made it worse.

She didn't know when she'd decided to suck it up and act strong, but it must've been at least half an hour that she had sat in those woods.

After taking in a shaky breath, she left to go back to the forest.

Back at her house, she was greeted by the annoying nasal sound of Mido's voice. "Saria? What's wrong with you?" he asked, grinning as he slyly draped his arm around her shoulder.

The girl simply shrugged off both his question and his arm, walking into her house and slamming the door in Mido's face. "S-Saria?" the Kokiri boy asked in surprise. "Are you upset?"

"No!" Saria yelled through the door, startling herself with the venom in her tone. She swallowed hard and apologized. Mido said nothing in return, so she excused herself from the front door and dropped herself onto her bed, where she cried herself to sleep.

~0~

She awoke to the light of early dawn streaming through her leaf curtains, and the sounds of Kokiri children playing outside.

With a sigh, she reluctantly pulled herself off the bed and got dressed, prepared to head to the Lost Woods again like she normally did when she was upset or needed to be alone.

"Saria!" a sudden voice came from outside her door, punctuated with lively knocks; Saria sighed again, this time in annoyance.

"What is it, Mido?" she asked, her voice holding a facade of sweetness that was under-toned with bitterness. Luckily, the redhead didn't seem to notice.

"Sophie and I wanna know if you'd come to play ball with us and a couple of the others?" he asked.

"Uh, no thanks," she quickly replied, crossing her fingers and hoping he'd go away.

He didn't. "But it'll make you feel better!" he insisted.

"How do you know that?" she blurted without thinking. Silence was her only response.

Saria listened as their footsteps faded away with their dejected mumbles. She felt bad for them, but there was no way she was going to feel any better without visiting her signature spot in the woods. _Maybe I'll get lost in them one day and never have to come back here..._ she thought, frowning at her feet.

Her half-closed eyes fluttered open. "What?" she asked aloud. "That's preposterous! I'm perfectly fine being here. It's just a phase." She sucked in a deep, semi-confident breath, and let it out slowly through her nose. "It's just a phase," she repeated.

~0~

She was just coming upon the meadow she held so dearly, and the appeared to be hovering right over it, as if there was something waiting for her there.

When she saw the boy in green sitting cross-legged on the tree stump, she smiled, then blinked long and hard, clearing her hallucinated fantasy.

She opened her eyes again. The boy was still there.

Her mouth dropped open.. "It's you! It's-!" she squealed, letting her emotions get the best of her. She immediately took off towards him, and he stood up, opening his arms and awaiting her arrival into them.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, his now youthful voice sarcastic, with a hint of guilt.

"Miss you? I just wasn't the same without you here! How did you...?" Saria couldn't form a single thought that made sense except for: _He was here again_.

"At the Temple of Time, while I was thinking, I knew that I couldn't just _leave _you here like I did without mentally murdering myself... I put the Master Sword back so I could be here, with you, at least for a little bit longer."

Saria was speechless, which was easy to see, so Link continued. "Since I went back in time, it won't be weird for me to do this..." He smiled and kissed her softly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

When he pulled back, he was actually blushing a little bit. It was probably the boyish hormones kicking in...again. "Once I save the world," he started, jolting Saria from her awkward spell. "I can put the sword back for good, and I can stay here, with you."

He smiled a little more, moving a fraction of an inch closer. "For however long you want me."

"How about forever?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

"That sounds like a great idea to me," Link replied, beaming as they looked up at the glorious sun.

_Forever_, Saria thought, feeling the boy taking her hands in his. _Forever is like Heaven when you have your hero beside you._

_The hero that saves you from the reality, and makes your dreams just that_.


End file.
